# CVE-2016-5709: Weak cryptography in n/a

> Local attackers with superuser privileges can brute force weakly encrypted passwords stored in /etc/shadow to obtain user credentials.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 24 Jun 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2p97-9g3q-fphp

## What is CVE-2016-5709?

CVE-2016-5709 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Jun 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager 6.3.1 and earlier uses weak encryption to store passwords in /etc/shadow, which allows local users with superuser privileges to obtain user passwords via a brute force attack.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-5709?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Solarwinds Virtualization Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-5709?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-5709 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-5709 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-5709 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2016-3643](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3643/): SolarWinds Virtualization Manager Privilege Escalation (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2016-3642](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3642/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-5709 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-5709 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Jun 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-5709 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5709/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5709/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-5709
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-5709
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-5709

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5709/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.